Conventionally, on both side units of a topsheet side in a widthwise direction of an absorbent article, such as a sanitary napkin, a pair of leakage-preventing units (so-called solid gathers) that expand and contract along a longitudinal direction of the absorbent article are provided. Generally, the leakage-preventing units are configured by elongated elastic members (for example, rubber) that expand and contract in the longitudinal direction of the absorbent article, and a nonwoven fabric (sheet) that wraps the elastic members along the longitudinal direction of the absorbent article.
Such a leakage-preventing unit includes a central region in the longitudinal direction of the absorbent article, and a pair of end unit regions positioned outside the longitudinal direction of the absorbent article from the central region. In the outer end of the longitudinal direction of the absorbent article in the end unit region, the elastic members are fixed to the nonwoven fabric in an extended state in the longitudinal direction of the absorbent article. Therefore, at the time of wearing, clue to shrinkage of the elastic members, the leakage-preventing units rise toward the wearer from both side units of the absorbent article (For example, see Patent Document 1).
However, in the aforementioned conventional absorbent article, because the elastic members were extended between the outer ends in a pair of end unit regions, there was a problem of deformation of the form of the absorbent article at the time of wearing as the end unit regions would fall easily in the central region (absorbing surface) side by more than needed, at the time of wearing, due to shrinkage of the elastic members along the longitudinal direction of the absorbent article.
In order to prevent this, it is considered that the form of the absorbent article can be stabilized by joining the end unit regions to form one part with the absorber, whose flexural rigidity is more than that of the leakage-preventing units. In such a case, because it is necessary to secure as large an area as possible, that is, to increase the area in which the absorber and the end unit regions are joined, along the longitudinal direction of the absorbent article, the flexibility of the end unit regions where the joint process was executed is lost. Thus, at the time of wearing, when the end unit regions contact the wearer, there arises a new problem that the wearer's comfortable feel against the skin from is worsened.